Paul Bulcke (file photo)Nestle SA global CEO Paul Bulcke said on Thursday its India unit is bouncing back more quickly than expected after the Maggi ban setback last year that led to the company’s flagship product being off the shelves for five months.

“India is recovering faster than anticipated, although it still weighed on the Asia zone’s overall performance. In India, the Maggi noodles business gained back market share but the business results were affected by the unfavourable comparatives,” Bulcke told investors after the company’s first-quarter earnings, referring to year-ago numbers.

Nestle follows a January-December financial year.

The strongest performances were in Europe and South East Asia, besides Africa, he said. Organic growth for the Asia, Africa, Oceania (AOA) zone, which Nestle declares as a combined entity in earnings, was 2.1% compared with 0.5% in the preceding quarter.

As reported by ET last month, Maggi has regained market share to return to its leadership position in the noodles segment, though this is significantly lower than what it was before it was banned last June.

The Vevey, Switzerland-headquartered firm reported a three month organic growth of 3.9%. While organic growth was 2.5% in developed markets, it stood at 5.6% in emerging markets.

In its 2015 annual earnings, Nestle had said that growth of the AOA market was at 0.5%, negated by the Maggi noodles issue in India. The Food Safety & Standards Authority India (FSSAI), the country’s regulator, had banned Maggi following allegations that the popular snack contained lead in excess of permissible levels and that there was mislabeling related to flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG).

The ban resulted in the India arm of the Swiss foods maker reporting a 17.2% decline in net sales for the year ended December 2015, while net profit fell to s Rs 563 crore, from Rs 1,185 crore in the previous year. The ban forced Nestle to take a hit of Rs 450 crore as it destroyed more than 30,000 tonnes of Maggi noodles and the firm reported its first loss in three decades in the April-June quarter of 2015.

Nestle India chairman Suresh Narayanan told ET last month that the Maggi noodles brand had regained the top slot in market share at over 48%, citing market researcher Nielsen. However, the category is now estimated at a little over Rs 2,000 crore, down from Rs 3,000 crore before the ban.

Following multiple clearances, first by the Bombay High Court and government labs, Nestle resumed sales of Maggi noodles in November. “Maggi used to contribute close to 30% of our portfolio before the controversy. At the moment, it’s slightly less than a fourth of the turnover because the full traction hasn’t happened. But it’s quickly catching up,” Narayanan had said.